Not even a strawberry milkshake could save the day

June 22, 2012

Dear Max

This week we went to the new Gourmet Garage Express in Atholl Square for dinner. You are usually awesome when we go for dinner – you sit, you roam a little, or you play on your iPad – which is why I didn’t think twice about going to this family-style restaurant.

Mistake number one for parents of toddlers. Just because you’ve done it once, or 20 times, doesn’t mean you’ll act that way again!

And while I don’t want to go on about how niggly and irritated you were during supper, suffice to say there were tears, pleas to go home, throwing of crayons on the floor, a bang on the iPad and a “no” to everything. It just wasn’t your night, dude.

There were some plusses: you drank and enjoyed your strawberry milkshake for about four minutes, and even had a moment of happy play, just in time for this picture to be taken.

You also ate some carrots from my stirfry which you enjoyed.

Once again, a reminder that things often don’t go to plan, that even the iPad is dismissable, and that little kids, like grownups, have shitty nights out too. And a reminder that strawberry milkshakes rock.

Me, I had a good time, and wolfed down my delicious falafel hamburger in about three minutes, in order to get you out of there. Ironically, the TVs at Gourmet Garage Express were screening a sports show with a hotdog-eating competition on it. Divine inspiration?

And even more irony – as we were driving home, you asked for sushi. Funny guy.